1917 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



267 



large nail or screw may be used in 

 its place. 



When the honey is granulated very 

 hard we find nothing more con- 

 venient to dig it out than a clean, 

 bright spade. 



We have often removed the head 

 of a barrel of honey, taken the 

 honey out, melted it, put the head 

 back in its place and poured the 

 honey back into the same barrel, in 

 the liquid form. Here a warning is 

 necessary. Do not put back the 

 honey into the barrel while hot. We 

 have known hot honey to absorb 

 moisture to such an extent as to 

 shrink the staves and leak out. 



If the above instructions are care- 

 fully followed, the same barrel may 

 be used over and over a number of 

 times. It should be thoroughly 

 emptied if the intention is to keep it 

 ready for the following year's crop. 

 A little honey remaining on the in- 

 side may absorb moisture and cause 

 fermentation of the next lot. 



Legal Advice on Beekeeping 



By Our Staff Correspondent 



"The city council here has passed an ordi- 

 nance making it unlawful to keep bees within 

 500 feet of any dwelling or public place They 

 must also be elevated 30 feet in the air and 

 confined on their owner's property. There is 

 a provision for fining the beekeeper not to 

 exceed $100 per day for keeping bees in vio- 

 lation of this ordiance." Indiana. 



It is hard to find words to do jus- 

 tice to a case of this kind. "The ordi- 

 nance is so absolutely foolish that 

 there is little question but that the 

 courts would declare it void upon 

 proper presentation of the case. Had 

 the council been content to stop at 

 requiring a distance of SOO feet be- 

 tween the apiary and a dwelling 

 there would have been some ground 

 for them to stand on. Even this is 

 an excessive distance in town. It 

 would be hard to find a location a 

 fifth of a mile from a dwelling in any 

 town of my acquaintance. 



The beekeepers of the country 

 should certainly form some sort of 

 organization for fighting such farci- 

 cal legislation as this on the part of 

 town councils. The Iowa Beekeepers' 

 Association has prevented the pas- 

 sage of such ordinances in some 

 cases by taking the matter up when 

 it was under consideration and serv- 

 ing notice that there would be a con- 

 test if an ordinance was passed 

 which prohibited the keeping of bees 

 within the town limits. 



In a case of this kind the beekeeper 

 is compelled to fight for his rights. 

 He can wait to be arrested and then 

 defend himself on the ground that 

 the ordinance is void, or he can em- 

 ploy an attorney and attack the or- 

 dinance at once. In either case it is 

 expensive, and beekeepers generally 

 should assist in paying the cost of 

 such litigation. 



"Can I keep bees in town on my own prop- 

 erty? I am a beginner. My bees have at two 

 different times stung one of my neighbors and 

 he promises to make me trouble. Can the 

 town council declare them a nuisance and 

 force me to get them out of town?" 



Il-LINOIS. 



Here we have again the old ques- 

 tion of the right to keep bees in 

 town. We have already answered 

 similar questions in these columns. 

 The town council cannot legally pass 

 an ordinance prohibiting the keeping 

 of bees within the town limits on the 

 ground that they are a nuisance. On 

 the other hand, if your bees are so 

 situated that they continue to annoy 

 your neighbors they may be a nuis- 

 ance in fact, and if so there is ample 

 authority of law to compel you to re- 

 move "them. It all depends upon cir- 

 cumstances. You do not say anything 

 about the circumstances under which 

 your neighbor was stung. If he was 

 at a distance from your premises how 

 does he know that it was your bees 

 which stung him? Bees fly for along 

 distance and it is difficult to prove 

 the location from which a particular 

 bee might come. If your neighbor 

 lives close to your apiary you should 

 by all means seek to get your hives 

 located in such a way that they will 

 not annoy him. 



In general a man has a right to 

 keep bees on his own property in 

 town the same as anywhere else, but 

 the residents of towns are bound to 

 respect certain rights of their neigh- 

 bors which do not require considera- 

 tion in the country because of the 

 greater distances. 



"If a swarm of bees alights on another 



man's property, have I the right to get them 



after asking my neighbor and he refuses per- 

 mission." Iowa. 



If a domestic animal strays on the 

 premises of another the owner has 

 no right to follow and reclaim it, ac- 

 cording to a strict interpretation of 

 the law, for in so doing he becomes 

 a trespasser. However, he still re- 

 tains his right of ownership. The 

 same rule will apply to bees. There 

 are several court decisions which 

 maintain that the owner of bees 

 which have thus gone beyond his 

 property limits can recover damages 

 for the amount of their value from a 

 third person who hives them and 

 takes them away. 



In case bees, as any other property, 

 are wrongfully detained from the 

 owner, he may bring an action of re- 

 plevin and recover his bees or their 

 value. 



It would be an unusual case which 

 would justify a beekeeper to start 

 legal action for recovery of a swarm 

 of bees. Although his rights in them 

 are the same as though the value was 

 much greater, the amount at stake is 



too small to make it worth his while 

 to start a f|uarrel. A better plan is to 

 send a jar of honey to the neighbor 

 Ijefore the bees begin to swarm, and 

 thus establish a friendly feeling 'to- 

 ward the bees. 



A Personal Experience in Mar- 

 keting Honey Direct to 

 the Consumer 



By Ralph R. Bent. 



IT is a common thing today to 

 hear of students in various col- 

 leges working their way through 

 school. The writer, being a bee- 

 keeper, was obliged to depend on 

 these insects for his livelihood while 

 in college. 



The sale of honey direct to the 

 consumer is by no means easy, unless 

 properly carried on. Many beekeep- 

 ers attempting marketing their prod- 

 ucts in this manner make several 

 serious mistakes. One of these mis- 

 takes is, no matter whether the cus- 

 tomers are large or small users, they 

 should be called upon regularly. 1 

 have in mind one woman who once 

 purchased a ten-cent bottle of honey 

 when I called upon her at her home. 

 I called upon her nearly every week 

 for nearly two years, during which 

 time she never purchased from me. 

 Today she is one of the largest 

 honey users that I know of, using it 

 to sweeten her tea and coffee and all 

 of her cooking. This experience goes 

 to show that the public requires edu- 

 cating. I always have aimed to dis- 

 tribute any literature on the subject 

 possible, such as cook books, circu- 

 lars, etc. At first, when getting 

 around, our conveyance was a home- 

 made affair composed of baby buggy 

 wheels and a soap box, covered with 

 attractive signs. This made quite a 

 push cart. On visiting each house 

 the lady was shown a one-frame ob- 

 servation hive or nucleus and the 

 queen bee. After explaining to her 

 some of the wonderful mysteries of 

 the industry, she was asked to taste 

 our pure honey. Such a call as this, 

 properly conducted, is almost certain 

 to bring sales. 



After such experience, I have 

 chosen packing honey in pails for a 

 "Direct to the Consumer" package, 

 the sizes being ZYz pounds, 5 pounds 

 and 10 pounds. The prices which we 

 receive are 40c, 7Sc and $1.35. We 

 pack nothing but an amber honey. 



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BENTS BEE LINE CO. 



350 MARKET STREET SAN FRANCISCO 



TICKET USED BY RALPH R. BENT IN STIMUL.\TING SALES OF HIS 



BEE LINE HONEY. 



